9. PRECURE – ECONOMY – WEEK – 2

The Big Mac Index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries.

Sugar production
Uttar Pradesh is the highest sugarcane producing State.
It has the most area under the production as well as the maximum output of Sugarcane.
It is followed by Maharashtra.
Tamil Nadu has the highest productivity of sugarcane in the country.

More on Sugarcane
It is now widely accepted that India is the original home of Saccharum species.
Sugarcane is a tall perennial tropical grass.
Sugarcane is propagated vegetatively from stem cuttings.
Broadly there are two distinct agro-climatic regions of sugarcane cultivation in India, viz., tropical and subtropical. However, five agro-climatic zones have been identified.
Sugarcane is grown in the world from altitude 36.7° N and 31.0° S, from sea level to 1000m of altitude or little more.
Rainfall:
A total rainfall between 1100 and 1500 mm is adequately provided the distribution is right, abundant in the months of vegetative growth followed by a dry period for ripening.

More on Sugarcane
Sugarcane undergoes a type of photosynthesis which is called C4.

Usually, plants use a C3 type of photosynthesis.
There the enzyme that captures the CO2 inside the cell forms primarily a compound containing 3 carbon atoms (3-PGA).
However, certain plants (e.g. sugarcane, maize and sorghum) have been modified during evolution so that they contain complementary metabolic pathway where, instead of incorporating carbon from CO2 in a 3-carbon acid, they incorporate into a 4-carbon acid and because of that this type of photosynthesis is called C4.
We even refer to a given plant species as a C4 or C3 species depending on its metabolism

Sub-tropical sugarcane region: Around 55 per cent of total cane area in the country is in the sub-tropics. U.P, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab comes under this region.

More on Sugarcane
Climatic requirement
Temperature for different critical stages of sugarcane:
The different critical stages are germination, tillering, early growth, active growth and elongation.
The optimum temperature for sprouting (germination) of stem cuttings is 32° to 38°c.
It slows down below 25°, reaches plateau between 30°-34°. Temperatures above 38° reduce the rate of photosynthesis and increase respiration.
For ripening, however, relatively low temperatures in the range of 12° to 14° are desirable.

More on Sugarcane
Reduction in yield of sugarcane due to rise in temperature:
The sugarcane productivity and juice quality are profoundly influenced by weather conditions prevailing during the various crop-growth sub-periods.
Sugar recovery is highest when the weather is dry with low humidity; bright sunshine hours, cooler nights with wide diurnal variations and very little rainfall during the ripening period.
These conditions favour high sugar accumulation.
The climatic conditions like very high temperature or very low temperature deteriorate the juice quality and thus affecting the sugar quality.
A favourable climate like warm and humid climate favour the insect pests and diseases, which cause much damage to the quality and yield of its juice and finally sucrose contents.

Top recipients of FDI
UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2019
India ranks 10th amongst the top recipients of FDI in 2018.
Global FDI flows, however, fell 13 per cent in 2018 to $1.3 trillion, from $1.5 trillion in the previous year – the third consecutive annual decline.
US remained the largest recipient of FDI, followed by China, Hong Kong (China) and Singapore.

In terms of outward investors, Japan became the largest followed by China and France.

Kisan Credit Card (KCC)
The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was introduced in 1998 for the issue of Kisan Credit Cards to farmers on the basis of their holdings for uniform adoption by the banks so that farmers may use them to readily purchase agriculture inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc. and draw cash for their production needs.
Implemented by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks and Cooperatives.
Eligibility
Farmers – individual/joint borrowers who are owner-cultivators;
Tenant farmers, oral lessees & share croppers;
Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) of farmers including tenant farmers, share croppers etc.

Kisan Credit Card (KCC)

Objectives
To meet the short term credit requirements for cultivation of crops
Postharvest expenses
Produce Marketing loan
Consumption requirements of farmer household
Working capital for maintenance of farm assets, activities allied to agriculture, like dairy animals, inland fishery and also working capital required for floriculture, horticulture etc.
Investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities like pump sets, sprayers, dairy animals, floriculture, horticulture etc
Short term credit requirements of rearing of animals, birds, fish, shrimp, other aquatic organisms, the capture of fish.